Sunday, January 31, 2010
31 Day Challenge...is over!
I did an O' session today and finished the challenge - do an O' session every day in the month of January.Some numbers. I did 18:30 of orienteering technique (out of a total of 31 hours of training). I found 313 controls. I ran on 15 different maps. 7 were sprint standard maps. One was an Open Orienteering Map (using the street-O setting). One was a map that showed pavement and buildings on
THERE'S A NEW KID IN TOWN!
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| A ruthless, emotionless, deadly lifeform - and a Dalek |
Hi, I'm Kid Robson - I used to contribute to loads of comics between 1985 and 2000. The purpose of this blog is to talk about all things relating to the world of comicbooks - and beyond. Feel free to leave a comment.
Taste test at Tails
Was tooling around Wellesley Square yesterday after a dump run when I picked up the scent: Tails!
So I hightailed it into the store, where I did a little taste test with Cameron.
Pizza-flavored treats? Nope.
Peanut butter?
Nope.
Liver?
Slurp.
Bayed a bunch of times in thanks. Leroy ran for his crate.
Have you been in Tails lately? It's been redecorated, and it's fab. Still has all the great taste treats and fun duds, plus some new things. Mom liked the necklaces; I liked the jar of tracheas, conveniently located near the cash register. But no dice, as I'm still on the aforementioned diet, yet I have gained (so they say) another 1.2 lbs. Winter weight!
Speaking of handsome, posed for my Dog of the Week photo during a visit last week to Wellesley Booksmith. Be on the lookout for the store's e-newsletter featuring moi. Watch out, Scott Brown—Cosmo's calling next!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Para Pria Penguasa Dunia Kuliner
Duh, lama sekali diriku tak menengok blog ini. Sampe banyak sarang laba-laba, jamuran, panuan, kudisan kurapan. Maafkan diriku ya, wahai blogku tercinta. Jangan ngambek dan jangan turun Page Rank.
Ya udah, sekarang aku tak posting. Postingan ini bukan membahas tentang ayam bumbu kecap dan kelezatannya tapi membahas tentang pengolah dan penyelia kuliner di dalamnya.
Dunia ini apa sudah kebalik ya? Para wanita yang biasanya kenal banget dengan seluk beluk dapur tapi kini justru bertebaran para pria yang piawai dalam seluk beluk kuliner ini. Mereka tak hanya piawai dalam mengolah masakan saja, nyatanya mereka menangguk sukses dalam hidup mereka karena menekuni dunia kuliner ini.
Para pria ini sangat dikenal dan wajahnya tak asing lagi sebagai presenter tayangan kuliner di televisi swasta Indonesia.
1. Bondan Winarno
Siapa yang tak kenal pak Bondan ini. Pria paruh baya ini terkenal dengan istilah “Mak Nyus” yang kemudian sering diplesetkan menjadi “Mak Nyos” oleh para comedian. Pak Bondan pertama dikenal lewat acara Bango santapan nusantara di Trans TV, namun kemudian berubah menjadi wisata kuliner yang khusus membahas tempat kuliner di seluruh Indonesia dan berbagai belahan dunia lainnya.
Detail dalam mengungkapkan rasa masakan, membuat pemirsa seolah-olah tak tahan ikut menitikkan air liur melihat tayangan Wisata Kuliner yang ditayangkan Trans TV setiap hari sabtu. Pokok-e Mak Nyus tenan!
2. Rudy Choirudin
Barangkali, pria pertama yang tampil di televisi Indonesia adalah Rudy Choirudin. Sejak jaman bahuela pria berambut ikal ini telah membawakan acara masak-memasak di televisi. Pertama kali tampil, Rudy membawakan acara Santapan Nusantara di RCTI.
Spesialisasinya mengolah atau memodifikasi masakan Nusantara menjadi santapan yang layak disejajarkan dengan masakan manca Negara lainnya. Meski tingkahnya tak kemayu atau ke perempuan-perempuanan, Rudy Choirudin sangat piawai di dapur dan dari profesinya ini, ia berhasil menangguk tak sedikit rejeki.
3. Bara Patirajawane
Sebenernya pria berdarah Ambon Manado ini mengawali karirnya sebagai seorang desainer. Namun kecintaannya pada dunia kuliner membuatnya lebih memilih menekuni dunia kuliner. Tampil dalam acara Gula-gula di Trans TV setiap hari sabtu, kita akan melihat gayanya yang cukup cekatan mengolah kue atau masakan.
Meski kadang suka kuenya bantat, atau masakannya sedikit gosong, tapi penampilan Bara di TV justru sangat alami, karena seahli apapun orang bisa juga terjadi kesalahan.
Bara tampil dengan gaya cukup macho, tattoo di lengan dan piercing di telinganya. Image Chief yang harus menggunakan topi dan celemek masak sama sekali dihilangkannya
4. Haryo Pramoe
Saya sering ketawa kalo melihat Haryo Pramu masak di TV, soalnya ibu pasti berkomentar “ si Jorok lagi masak”. Secara, lelaki satu ini suka sembarangan pake tangan yang kadang engga dicuci untuk ngambil bahan masakan, padahal tangannya masih belepotan bumbu atau bahan lain.
Pembawa acara Harmoni Alam di Trans TV ini, hobby banget mengolah masakan yang super praktis yang bisa disajikan ketika sedang di alam bebas. Meski kesannya jorok. Ciri khas Haryo Pramu ini membuatnya lebih ekslusif dibandingkan Chief lainnya, tak banyak pernik menunjukkan aslinya bagaimana bila lelaki biasa di dapur meski enak hasil masakannya tapi rada “berantakan”
5. William Wongso
Pakar kuliner berdarah Mandarin ini, sudah melanglang buana puluhan tahun di dunianya. Kepiawaiannya dalam hal kuliner, membuatnya menjadi ahli dalam hal kuliner sekaligus mengantarkannya menjadi pebisnis kuliner yang sukses di negeri ini. Salah satu resto hasil karyanya yang menyajikan masakan sedikit nyeleneh bernama Mie Item terletak dikawasan kemang Jakarta.
Pembawa acara kuliner di Metro TV ini tak hanya terkenal di Indonesia saja, bahkan hingga ke Manca Negara telah mengakui ke ahlinya dalam bidang kuliner.
Saya sebenernya juga pengin kaya mereka. Bukan pengin jadi lelakinya, tapi pengin pinter masak. Bisa sih masak, cuman hasilnya gak ditanggung menimbulkan kejang-kejang atau tidaknya.
Ya udah, sekarang aku tak posting. Postingan ini bukan membahas tentang ayam bumbu kecap dan kelezatannya tapi membahas tentang pengolah dan penyelia kuliner di dalamnya.
Dunia ini apa sudah kebalik ya? Para wanita yang biasanya kenal banget dengan seluk beluk dapur tapi kini justru bertebaran para pria yang piawai dalam seluk beluk kuliner ini. Mereka tak hanya piawai dalam mengolah masakan saja, nyatanya mereka menangguk sukses dalam hidup mereka karena menekuni dunia kuliner ini.
Para pria ini sangat dikenal dan wajahnya tak asing lagi sebagai presenter tayangan kuliner di televisi swasta Indonesia.
1. Bondan Winarno
Siapa yang tak kenal pak Bondan ini. Pria paruh baya ini terkenal dengan istilah “Mak Nyus” yang kemudian sering diplesetkan menjadi “Mak Nyos” oleh para comedian. Pak Bondan pertama dikenal lewat acara Bango santapan nusantara di Trans TV, namun kemudian berubah menjadi wisata kuliner yang khusus membahas tempat kuliner di seluruh Indonesia dan berbagai belahan dunia lainnya.Detail dalam mengungkapkan rasa masakan, membuat pemirsa seolah-olah tak tahan ikut menitikkan air liur melihat tayangan Wisata Kuliner yang ditayangkan Trans TV setiap hari sabtu. Pokok-e Mak Nyus tenan!
2. Rudy Choirudin
Barangkali, pria pertama yang tampil di televisi Indonesia adalah Rudy Choirudin. Sejak jaman bahuela pria berambut ikal ini telah membawakan acara masak-memasak di televisi. Pertama kali tampil, Rudy membawakan acara Santapan Nusantara di RCTI.Spesialisasinya mengolah atau memodifikasi masakan Nusantara menjadi santapan yang layak disejajarkan dengan masakan manca Negara lainnya. Meski tingkahnya tak kemayu atau ke perempuan-perempuanan, Rudy Choirudin sangat piawai di dapur dan dari profesinya ini, ia berhasil menangguk tak sedikit rejeki.
3. Bara Patirajawane
Sebenernya pria berdarah Ambon Manado ini mengawali karirnya sebagai seorang desainer. Namun kecintaannya pada dunia kuliner membuatnya lebih memilih menekuni dunia kuliner. Tampil dalam acara Gula-gula di Trans TV setiap hari sabtu, kita akan melihat gayanya yang cukup cekatan mengolah kue atau masakan.Meski kadang suka kuenya bantat, atau masakannya sedikit gosong, tapi penampilan Bara di TV justru sangat alami, karena seahli apapun orang bisa juga terjadi kesalahan.
Bara tampil dengan gaya cukup macho, tattoo di lengan dan piercing di telinganya. Image Chief yang harus menggunakan topi dan celemek masak sama sekali dihilangkannya
4. Haryo Pramoe
Saya sering ketawa kalo melihat Haryo Pramu masak di TV, soalnya ibu pasti berkomentar “ si Jorok lagi masak”. Secara, lelaki satu ini suka sembarangan pake tangan yang kadang engga dicuci untuk ngambil bahan masakan, padahal tangannya masih belepotan bumbu atau bahan lain.Pembawa acara Harmoni Alam di Trans TV ini, hobby banget mengolah masakan yang super praktis yang bisa disajikan ketika sedang di alam bebas. Meski kesannya jorok. Ciri khas Haryo Pramu ini membuatnya lebih ekslusif dibandingkan Chief lainnya, tak banyak pernik menunjukkan aslinya bagaimana bila lelaki biasa di dapur meski enak hasil masakannya tapi rada “berantakan”
5. William Wongso
Pakar kuliner berdarah Mandarin ini, sudah melanglang buana puluhan tahun di dunianya. Kepiawaiannya dalam hal kuliner, membuatnya menjadi ahli dalam hal kuliner sekaligus mengantarkannya menjadi pebisnis kuliner yang sukses di negeri ini. Salah satu resto hasil karyanya yang menyajikan masakan sedikit nyeleneh bernama Mie Item terletak dikawasan kemang Jakarta.Pembawa acara kuliner di Metro TV ini tak hanya terkenal di Indonesia saja, bahkan hingga ke Manca Negara telah mengakui ke ahlinya dalam bidang kuliner.
Saya sebenernya juga pengin kaya mereka. Bukan pengin jadi lelakinya, tapi pengin pinter masak. Bisa sih masak, cuman hasilnya gak ditanggung menimbulkan kejang-kejang atau tidaknya.
More tails from Catholic school
Before her ooh-la-la Buenos Aires trip, my cousin Pazzo’s mom, being a very diligent reader of my blog, said the Jesus of the Broken Arm story reminded her of her own Catholic school raffle tale. Who knew raffles were such a regular thing in those hallowed halls of hemline-checking?
Moreover, her story involves a canine, which makes it perfect for my blog. But unlike my mom’s story, hers has a painful ending.
Here goes:
So the nuns announce a raffle, and instead of the prize being a religious object, it is a puppy! A classmates’ dog, apparently, had a litter, and what better way to raise money from the school than raid those poor little plaid jumper pockets?
Given that leftover fruitcake was the only other uh, prize, ever offered at Mom’s school, the nuns over at Pazzo’s mom’s place perhaps had some kindness in them. Of course, for those of us who believe that DOG is GOD, a puppy is an object of religious veneration.
Perfect prize, except that Pazzo’s mom has no money at all in her plaid jumper pocket and the entry fee is 10 cents. Her friend, however, has an entire dollar. Pazzo’s mom not only finagles the entry fee from the friend, she wins the puppy!
Except that when she comes home with this adorable, cute, squirming puppy in her arms, her parents practically shriek and can’t get it out of the house fast enough.
Later on, they did get a puppy, a tiny black poodle thing named Pierre, but no one seemed to like him much.
Moreover, her story involves a canine, which makes it perfect for my blog. But unlike my mom’s story, hers has a painful ending.
Here goes:
So the nuns announce a raffle, and instead of the prize being a religious object, it is a puppy! A classmates’ dog, apparently, had a litter, and what better way to raise money from the school than raid those poor little plaid jumper pockets?
Given that leftover fruitcake was the only other uh, prize, ever offered at Mom’s school, the nuns over at Pazzo’s mom’s place perhaps had some kindness in them. Of course, for those of us who believe that DOG is GOD, a puppy is an object of religious veneration.
Perfect prize, except that Pazzo’s mom has no money at all in her plaid jumper pocket and the entry fee is 10 cents. Her friend, however, has an entire dollar. Pazzo’s mom not only finagles the entry fee from the friend, she wins the puppy!
Except that when she comes home with this adorable, cute, squirming puppy in her arms, her parents practically shriek and can’t get it out of the house fast enough.
Later on, they did get a puppy, a tiny black poodle thing named Pierre, but no one seemed to like him much.
owl city
Caitlin and I Thank You for voting in The Poppies Awards!
Don't forget to check out Poppy Talk
Hugs,
Mary
Don't forget to check out Poppy Talk
Inspiration! I like this ~
Hugs,
Mary
owl city
Caitlin and I Thank You for voting in The Poppies Awards!
Don't forget to check out Poppy Talk
Hugs,
Mary
Don't forget to check out Poppy Talk
Inspiration! I like this ~
Hugs,
Mary
Checklists
Lots of things we do as orienteers require working together and some discipline. Think about organizing an event or work with a club to put together a good relay team. Lots of things we do require some discipline, but not much working together. Think about training or fieldchecking a map.Could "checklists" help orineteers?Atul Gawande makes a good case that checklists can help people when you
Friday, January 29, 2010
Shoveling Global Warming Frigid Storms
Roanoke Times, 1-29-10, Pg 7: Warming climate, frigid storm; A new study (by the National Wildlife Federation) establishes how climate change can lead to extremely cold weather. It comes at a time when the American public is increasingly skeptical that climate change is happening.
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It “establishes how” – stated as if it were a scientific fact!
It’s a study – Not a fact! Talk about shoveling white heifer-dust!
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Damn those American public skeptical deniers! Of course the climate is changing – the climate has always been changing! The only question is:
Is current global warming and climate change caused by man-kind; and the answer is: it’s never happened before and there’s no conclusive proof that it’s happening now!
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The article’s theme: global warming causes frigid storms is clearly not science just as the alarmists are clearly not correct on: ClimateGate, GlacierGate, and OzoneGate.
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/glimategate-glaciergate-ozonegate-and.html
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A simple Google search will show lots of examples of winter storms, two examples of significant size and historical importance:
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Winter of 1830-31 has legends that Chicago's records fail to shake and
The Bitter Winter of 1777-1778 that tested the endurance of General Washington's soldiers at Valley Forge
http://www.illinoishistory.com/deepsnow.htm
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The Great Blizzard of 1888 or Great Blizzard of '88 (March 11 – March 14, 1888) was one of the most severe blizzards in United States' recorded history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard_of_1888
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Also the significant 35 years of global cooling from 1940 to 1975 and the associated alarmist cries that another ice age was coming and we were going to starve to death:
http://www.denisdutton.com/cooling_world.htm
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There has been no warming during the past 10 years in spite of the increased levels in CO2:
http://www.roanokeslant.org/GlobalWarmingThoughts/10yr-temp-co2.jpg
-
How do these historical winter storms relate to the history of CO2?
Look at the graphic! It’s clear that they don’t!
http://www.roanokeslant.org/GlobalWarmingThoughts/100yr-temp-co2.jpg
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Click to Enlarge Graphic
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It would be helpful if the liberal media who are shoveling the Alarmist-Gore-IPCC-Hypothesis would stop publishing junk-science and stick to the facts and publish all this type data in the historical perspective that we are in a 250 year warming cycle of unknown cause, that started at the end of the little ice age in 1750, and there is significant amounts of natural variability locally and globally.
Stop propagating the patently false alarmist hype that every daily weather event is a direct result of man-kinds activity. Even the IPCC rejects that tripe!
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/climategate-heats-up-into-glaciergate.html
-
-
Some Prior Items:
-
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/global-warming-runs-hot-and-cold.html
-
http://www.roanokeslant.org/GlobalWarmingThoughts/
-
-
It “establishes how” – stated as if it were a scientific fact!
It’s a study – Not a fact! Talk about shoveling white heifer-dust!
-
Damn those American public skeptical deniers! Of course the climate is changing – the climate has always been changing! The only question is:
Is current global warming and climate change caused by man-kind; and the answer is: it’s never happened before and there’s no conclusive proof that it’s happening now!
-
The article’s theme: global warming causes frigid storms is clearly not science just as the alarmists are clearly not correct on: ClimateGate, GlacierGate, and OzoneGate.
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/glimategate-glaciergate-ozonegate-and.html
-
A simple Google search will show lots of examples of winter storms, two examples of significant size and historical importance:
-
Winter of 1830-31 has legends that Chicago's records fail to shake and
The Bitter Winter of 1777-1778 that tested the endurance of General Washington's soldiers at Valley Forge
http://www.illinoishistory.com/deepsnow.htm
-
The Great Blizzard of 1888 or Great Blizzard of '88 (March 11 – March 14, 1888) was one of the most severe blizzards in United States' recorded history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard_of_1888
-
Also the significant 35 years of global cooling from 1940 to 1975 and the associated alarmist cries that another ice age was coming and we were going to starve to death:
http://www.denisdutton.com/cooling_world.htm
-
There has been no warming during the past 10 years in spite of the increased levels in CO2:
http://www.roanokeslant.org/GlobalWarmingThoughts/10yr-temp-co2.jpg
-
How do these historical winter storms relate to the history of CO2?
Look at the graphic! It’s clear that they don’t!
http://www.roanokeslant.org/GlobalWarmingThoughts/100yr-temp-co2.jpg
-
Click to Enlarge Graphic
-It would be helpful if the liberal media who are shoveling the Alarmist-Gore-IPCC-Hypothesis would stop publishing junk-science and stick to the facts and publish all this type data in the historical perspective that we are in a 250 year warming cycle of unknown cause, that started at the end of the little ice age in 1750, and there is significant amounts of natural variability locally and globally.
Stop propagating the patently false alarmist hype that every daily weather event is a direct result of man-kinds activity. Even the IPCC rejects that tripe!
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/climategate-heats-up-into-glaciergate.html
-
-
Some Prior Items:
-
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/global-warming-runs-hot-and-cold.html
-
http://www.roanokeslant.org/GlobalWarmingThoughts/
-
Professor Obama Gives Yet Another Lecture
Roanoke Times, 1-29-10, Pg 1 & 17: Editorial: The State of the Union: Obama still hopes for change. He must overcome many obstacles before he can deliver on his promises.
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Twelve months in office with very limited positive accomplishments certainly didn’t stop our Aloft Arrogant Professor Obama from getting up in front of his lowly ignorant students and giving yet another lecture about the joys of socialism, big government, big taxes and big debt.
If you listened carefully you could hear the old civil war song playing in the background:
Neck Deep in the Big Muddy and the Big Fool Says Push-ON.
-
One might think that at some point in the speech Obama would turn to his wife and say:
Gee Michelle, I’ve a feeling we’re not at Yale anymore!
-
The reality of the recent voter sentiments and behaviors in the Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts elections (all of which he won big in Nov 08) have not penetrated the psyche of our Presidential Professor and his associates Polosi and Reid. This state of denial is not helpful in moving the country forward to face and solve our most pressing and immediate problems and setting the stage for long term private-sector growth and prosperity.
-
A significant contributor to his problems is the reality that he has surrounded himself in the Presidential Palace with left-wing ideologues reinforced by two dozen Czars and hundreds of court jesters hardly any of which have ever managed or created a single private sector job.
It has become clear for all to see that being a Liberal University Professor and a community organizer is not an adequate or proper basis for managing The American Enterprise.
-
Surrounding this socialist cabal is an army of left-wing liberal media trying desperately to protect their investment in the Obama legacy. For them there is no reality, only spin and propaganda and word-smithing without the reality of truth, content, perspective and honest journalism.
-
Hopefully a movement of centrist pragmatic realists will emerge from this mess and will form the basis for constructive national policies and private sector job development and growth that have always been and hopefully will continue to be the basis of our economic, social and political systems.
-
The results of the Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts elections are promising and hopefully portend a brighter future of constructive change we can support!
-
Some prior items:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/obama-audacity-of-arrogance.html
-
-
Twelve months in office with very limited positive accomplishments certainly didn’t stop our Aloft Arrogant Professor Obama from getting up in front of his lowly ignorant students and giving yet another lecture about the joys of socialism, big government, big taxes and big debt.
If you listened carefully you could hear the old civil war song playing in the background:
Neck Deep in the Big Muddy and the Big Fool Says Push-ON.
-
One might think that at some point in the speech Obama would turn to his wife and say:
Gee Michelle, I’ve a feeling we’re not at Yale anymore!
-
The reality of the recent voter sentiments and behaviors in the Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts elections (all of which he won big in Nov 08) have not penetrated the psyche of our Presidential Professor and his associates Polosi and Reid. This state of denial is not helpful in moving the country forward to face and solve our most pressing and immediate problems and setting the stage for long term private-sector growth and prosperity.
-
A significant contributor to his problems is the reality that he has surrounded himself in the Presidential Palace with left-wing ideologues reinforced by two dozen Czars and hundreds of court jesters hardly any of which have ever managed or created a single private sector job.
It has become clear for all to see that being a Liberal University Professor and a community organizer is not an adequate or proper basis for managing The American Enterprise.
-
Surrounding this socialist cabal is an army of left-wing liberal media trying desperately to protect their investment in the Obama legacy. For them there is no reality, only spin and propaganda and word-smithing without the reality of truth, content, perspective and honest journalism.
-
Hopefully a movement of centrist pragmatic realists will emerge from this mess and will form the basis for constructive national policies and private sector job development and growth that have always been and hopefully will continue to be the basis of our economic, social and political systems.
-
The results of the Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts elections are promising and hopefully portend a brighter future of constructive change we can support!
-
Some prior items:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/obama-audacity-of-arrogance.html
-
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Obama The GM CEO And Major Conflicts of Interest
Roanoke Slant, 1-28-10, Owners inundate Toyota dealers with questions about sticking gas pedal issues.
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The Toyota sticking gas pedal issue resulted in super quick reaction by Obama (GM’s Virtual CEO) and his team telling Toyota to initiate a recall because of the problem.
Toyota, in typical responsible style, had gone well beyond that and already issued a recall and a stop-ship so that new vehicles get the fix and by also going public for wide customer awareness.
-
This is Amazing! My GM Oldsmobile had the same problem several years ago!
Oldsmobile told me that yes, there’s a sticky gas pedal problem due to some form of build-up in the module that converts gas pedal position to electrical signals that go to the computer that in turn go to the fuel injectors (sound familiar?)!
-
Did GM do a recall or stop-ship? NO!
Did GM cover the labor and material for a faulty component? NO!
Did GM initiate a stop-ship of all cars with that type component? NO!
Did GM make a public statement for customer awareness? NO!
Apparently the only notification was to dealers in an “internal” service bulletin.
They charged me $150 for the replacement part with no indication that it was a redesigned model or that the root problem was fixed; just a replacement at my expense.
-
Several months ago the Obama GM CEO team issued a big public notice about Toyota floor mats causing major accidents. What wasn't said was that the problem was really caused by people putting a second set of their own mats on-top-of the factory mats. These extra mats were not secured to the floor as are the Toyota mats and in some cases interfered with the gas pedal. Apparently what we had there was a failure to communicate the complete story.
-
So, here we have GM CEO Obama and company with the power to disparage and direct non-GM companies to take major disruptive actions, which GM didn’t take, giving GM a major market and financial advantage over a competitor who happens to hire non-UAW labor.
Does anyone see a conflict of interest in this or does it simply look like business as usual the Chicago way?
-
Just more hope and change we can believe in! Yes we can!
-
Other news views:
WSJ 4-28-09 Control of GM Would Create Conflicts for Government
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124087977542061821.html
-
http://www.gallup.com/poll/120842/disapprove-majority-government-ownership.aspx
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/11/uaw-ford-worker-reject-contract.html
-
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/08/uaw-for-clunkers-program.html
-
-
The Toyota sticking gas pedal issue resulted in super quick reaction by Obama (GM’s Virtual CEO) and his team telling Toyota to initiate a recall because of the problem.
Toyota, in typical responsible style, had gone well beyond that and already issued a recall and a stop-ship so that new vehicles get the fix and by also going public for wide customer awareness.
-
This is Amazing! My GM Oldsmobile had the same problem several years ago!
Oldsmobile told me that yes, there’s a sticky gas pedal problem due to some form of build-up in the module that converts gas pedal position to electrical signals that go to the computer that in turn go to the fuel injectors (sound familiar?)!
-
Did GM do a recall or stop-ship? NO!
Did GM cover the labor and material for a faulty component? NO!
Did GM initiate a stop-ship of all cars with that type component? NO!
Did GM make a public statement for customer awareness? NO!
Apparently the only notification was to dealers in an “internal” service bulletin.
They charged me $150 for the replacement part with no indication that it was a redesigned model or that the root problem was fixed; just a replacement at my expense.
-
Several months ago the Obama GM CEO team issued a big public notice about Toyota floor mats causing major accidents. What wasn't said was that the problem was really caused by people putting a second set of their own mats on-top-of the factory mats. These extra mats were not secured to the floor as are the Toyota mats and in some cases interfered with the gas pedal. Apparently what we had there was a failure to communicate the complete story.
-
So, here we have GM CEO Obama and company with the power to disparage and direct non-GM companies to take major disruptive actions, which GM didn’t take, giving GM a major market and financial advantage over a competitor who happens to hire non-UAW labor.
Does anyone see a conflict of interest in this or does it simply look like business as usual the Chicago way?
-
Just more hope and change we can believe in! Yes we can!
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Other news views:
WSJ 4-28-09 Control of GM Would Create Conflicts for Government
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124087977542061821.html
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http://www.gallup.com/poll/120842/disapprove-majority-government-ownership.aspx
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/11/uaw-ford-worker-reject-contract.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/08/uaw-for-clunkers-program.html
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Course: Learn English Online (LEO) - March 2010
My dear sister, Nellie Deutsch has invited us to join her in this learning adventure. This is what she told us:
Welcome to Learning English Online (LEO). LEO is an English program for adult learners who are interested in ongoing English practice to improve their listening, reading, writing, and spoken skills. The program includes live online events via WiZiQ that are conducted twice a week on a specific time and Moodle lessons that do not have specific times. The two formats are very valuable since they provide a chance for students of English to practice the 4 language skills with other participants from around the world.
So, what are you waiting for? Click here to go there and register.. this is FREE... you only need to register there........
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Human rights are "basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled".[1]. The doctrine of human rights aims to identify the necessary positive and negative prerequisites for a "universal" minimal standard of justice, tolerance and human dignity that can be considered the public moral norms owed by and to individuals by the mere virtue of their humanity. Such prerequisites can exist as shared norms of actual human moralities, as justified moral norms or moral rights supported by strong reasons, as legal rights at a national level, or as a legal right within international law.[2] Human rights advocates seek the strong protection of human rights through their effective realisation in each of these ways. The claim of Human rights is therefore that they are universal, in that they are possessed by all by virtue of the fact that they are human, and independent in that their existence as moral standards of justification and criticism is independent whether or not they are recognized and by a particular national or international legal system. or government.[3].
______________
Taken from Wikipedia...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
AEP Rates: The Reality of Democrat Energy Policy
Roanoke Times, 1-27-10, Pg 1 & 10: Electric bills spur bills in Capitol. AEP rate increases have prompted lawmakers to seek restrictions.
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Democrat Del. Ward Armstrong and Democrat Del. Roscoe Reynolds highlighted as seeking action against AEP and pandering to their constitutions who haven’t figured out that “It’s The Government – Stupid”; and you can be sure Armstrong & Reynolds and the Roanoke Times aren’t going to enlighten them either.
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/07/virginia-below-national-average-cost-of.html
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AEP is a government controlled and directed utility. That means they have been and will continue to do whatever the government tells them to do (just like today’s GM).
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The two primary items driving AEP increased costs and therefore rates are directly related to government activities:
• High fuel costs: what have Kaine, M.Warner, Obama, done about reducing that?
• High refitting costs for EPA demands: what have Kaine, M.Warner, Obama done about reducing that?
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Today’s AEP bills are going to pale in comparison to the Democrat plan for shutting down all carbon-based fuels and switching to solar and wind systems. Obama swore to bankrupt any company that even tries to start-up a new coal-fired plan. Apparently the Democrats are big on shutting-down and turning-off but not so much on providing new required domestic energy facilities to support our people and industries.
Note the Virginia Highland Wind Farm fiasco.
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/tim-kaine-mark-warner-obama-green.html
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The Cap&Tax program embraced by the Democrats including Obama-Pelosi-Reid with Perriello’s vote and support will not only directly hit the electric rates but also all major energy dependent products like vehicle fuels, fertilizers, cement and road paving. After enacting the Democrat Cap&Tax all energy-centric manufacturing will relocate off-shore.
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/07/perriello-boucher-pelosi-vote-for-cap.html
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The Democrats have not done anything to solve our dependency on our enemies for our oil supply thereby letting this problem compound and leaving us subject to yet another boycott disaster and ever increasing money & jobs flowing out of our country.
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/02/weed-in-green-garden.html
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Just more hope and change we can believe in! Yes we can!
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Democrat Del. Ward Armstrong and Democrat Del. Roscoe Reynolds highlighted as seeking action against AEP and pandering to their constitutions who haven’t figured out that “It’s The Government – Stupid”; and you can be sure Armstrong & Reynolds and the Roanoke Times aren’t going to enlighten them either.
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/07/virginia-below-national-average-cost-of.html
-
AEP is a government controlled and directed utility. That means they have been and will continue to do whatever the government tells them to do (just like today’s GM).
-
The two primary items driving AEP increased costs and therefore rates are directly related to government activities:
• High fuel costs: what have Kaine, M.Warner, Obama, done about reducing that?
• High refitting costs for EPA demands: what have Kaine, M.Warner, Obama done about reducing that?
-
Today’s AEP bills are going to pale in comparison to the Democrat plan for shutting down all carbon-based fuels and switching to solar and wind systems. Obama swore to bankrupt any company that even tries to start-up a new coal-fired plan. Apparently the Democrats are big on shutting-down and turning-off but not so much on providing new required domestic energy facilities to support our people and industries.
Note the Virginia Highland Wind Farm fiasco.
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/tim-kaine-mark-warner-obama-green.html
-
The Cap&Tax program embraced by the Democrats including Obama-Pelosi-Reid with Perriello’s vote and support will not only directly hit the electric rates but also all major energy dependent products like vehicle fuels, fertilizers, cement and road paving. After enacting the Democrat Cap&Tax all energy-centric manufacturing will relocate off-shore.
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/07/perriello-boucher-pelosi-vote-for-cap.html
-
The Democrats have not done anything to solve our dependency on our enemies for our oil supply thereby letting this problem compound and leaving us subject to yet another boycott disaster and ever increasing money & jobs flowing out of our country.
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/02/weed-in-green-garden.html
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Just more hope and change we can believe in! Yes we can!
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Vote For Caitlin!
My daughter Caitlin has been nominated for a POPPIE Award!
WOW oh WOW! Can you feel me beaming :)
It would be great for us to get behind her and vote for Nice.
We have from now until January 29th at 11:59pm. Thank you, Thank you! OH MERCI!
Just click over the "POPPIE Award" link above : and scroll down to "Nice".
Caitlin Thanks you also :) :) :)
xo,
Mary
Vote For Caitlin!
My daughter Caitlin has been nominated for a POPPIE Award!
WOW oh WOW! Can you feel me beaming :)
It would be great for us to get behind her and vote for Nice.
We have from now until January 29th at 11:59pm. Thank you, Thank you! OH MERCI!
Just click over the "POPPIE Award" link above : and scroll down to "Nice".
Caitlin Thanks you also :) :) :)
xo,
Mary
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, Obama – Green Energy & Jobs NOT
Roanoke Times, 1-26-10, Pg 10: An examiner with the State Corp. Commission is recommending that yet another complaint by those opposed to the Highland New Wind Development project be rejected by the SCC.
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This article doesn’t begin to address the Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, Obama pronouncements about the great green jobs and energy programs in Virginia.
It doesn’t address them because they are total and complete failures!
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The only commercial wind power project in Virginia has been in a bureaucratic swamp for over five years while Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and now Obama have told us how big and important green energy is and how many jobs it will generate and what a wonderful thing it is to displace carbon-energy. And over the past eight years of Democrat rule they have not even developed one megawatt of domestic energy to reduce our energy dependencies on our enemies.
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What a gigantic pile of not-green heifer-dust!
Of course, you’ll not find any real coverage of these massive failures in the Roanoke Times. They’re much too busy throwing darts at McDonnell to hold their friends to account for their bogus claims and negative accomplishments.
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Here’s an idea: let’s have the Roanoke Times hook up to the Highland Wind Farm and get all their power from there. They could even augment their power supply by putting up a few acres of solar panels on top of the new Art Gallery for those bright days in Roanoke from 10 AM till 4 PM (do they run their presses at night and on cloudy days?).
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Prior Items:
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/03/no-new-energy-jihad_23.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/10/smart-power-grid-needs-supply.html
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-
This article doesn’t begin to address the Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, Obama pronouncements about the great green jobs and energy programs in Virginia.
It doesn’t address them because they are total and complete failures!
-
The only commercial wind power project in Virginia has been in a bureaucratic swamp for over five years while Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and now Obama have told us how big and important green energy is and how many jobs it will generate and what a wonderful thing it is to displace carbon-energy. And over the past eight years of Democrat rule they have not even developed one megawatt of domestic energy to reduce our energy dependencies on our enemies.
-
What a gigantic pile of not-green heifer-dust!
Of course, you’ll not find any real coverage of these massive failures in the Roanoke Times. They’re much too busy throwing darts at McDonnell to hold their friends to account for their bogus claims and negative accomplishments.
-
Here’s an idea: let’s have the Roanoke Times hook up to the Highland Wind Farm and get all their power from there. They could even augment their power supply by putting up a few acres of solar panels on top of the new Art Gallery for those bright days in Roanoke from 10 AM till 4 PM (do they run their presses at night and on cloudy days?).
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Prior Items:
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/03/no-new-energy-jihad_23.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/10/smart-power-grid-needs-supply.html
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ClimateGate GlacierGate OzoneGate And The EcoScientists
EcoScientists told us to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to scrap every air conditioner and refrigerator in the world and change to a new Freon in order to close the ozone hole; but they didn’t tell us that natural variability is having a bigger effect than Freon and they didn’t tell us that closing the ozone hole will contribute to global warming and cause the Antarctic ice to melt faster!
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Study Finds Ozone Hole Repair Contributes To Global Warming, Sea Ice Melt
http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2009-12/study-finds-ozone-hole-repair-contributes-global-warming-sea-level-rise
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http://news.scotsman.com/uk/Now-climatechange-scientists-say-ozone.6012558.jp
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It appears that EcoScientists who are involved in these Eco-movements that involve major government policy decisions should be clearly and publicly identified because they’re giving the rest of the scientific profession a really bad name!
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Perhaps combining science with politics contaminates these EcoScientists with the same afflictions that contaminate politicians. The root of that contamination is of course massive grants of tax money “gifted” by the politicians to those EcoScientists who generate the best story to support the movement. Those who do not agree need not apply! Those who oppose need a backup employment option.
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Major onerous characteristics of these EcoScientists are that they fail to present the uncertainty in their hypothesis, totally avoid identifying potential adverse consequences of their recommendations and fail to disclose their sources of funding and conflicts of interest.
A prime example of this is the Rachael Carson DDT ban which has led to over one million malaria deaths each year for over 20 years in third world countries. No one was ever identified as getting ill from DDT and clearly a major focus on responsible application would have been a responsible first and probably only required action. Interestingly, it was primarily government agencies that were irresponsible in how they were doing DDT applications.
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It appears these EcoScientists are primarily located in government agencies and grant supported sections of universities where they are immune to independent evaluation of their work and performance and therefore are safely tenured and nurtured by the politicians they satisfy. Sounds like scientific socialism doesn’t it?
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The liberal media plays a major role in this scenario by ensuring that these politicians and their symbiotic EcoScientists are shielded from public scrutiny and accountability as we have witnessed by the lack of public visibility into ClimateGate, GlacierGate and OzoneGate.
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Prior Items:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/climategate-heats-up-into-glaciergate.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2007/10/more-rubbish-science.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/03/yet-another-nasa-self-serving-study.html
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Study Finds Ozone Hole Repair Contributes To Global Warming, Sea Ice Melt
http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2009-12/study-finds-ozone-hole-repair-contributes-global-warming-sea-level-rise
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http://news.scotsman.com/uk/Now-climatechange-scientists-say-ozone.6012558.jp
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It appears that EcoScientists who are involved in these Eco-movements that involve major government policy decisions should be clearly and publicly identified because they’re giving the rest of the scientific profession a really bad name!
-
Perhaps combining science with politics contaminates these EcoScientists with the same afflictions that contaminate politicians. The root of that contamination is of course massive grants of tax money “gifted” by the politicians to those EcoScientists who generate the best story to support the movement. Those who do not agree need not apply! Those who oppose need a backup employment option.
-
Major onerous characteristics of these EcoScientists are that they fail to present the uncertainty in their hypothesis, totally avoid identifying potential adverse consequences of their recommendations and fail to disclose their sources of funding and conflicts of interest.
A prime example of this is the Rachael Carson DDT ban which has led to over one million malaria deaths each year for over 20 years in third world countries. No one was ever identified as getting ill from DDT and clearly a major focus on responsible application would have been a responsible first and probably only required action. Interestingly, it was primarily government agencies that were irresponsible in how they were doing DDT applications.
-
It appears these EcoScientists are primarily located in government agencies and grant supported sections of universities where they are immune to independent evaluation of their work and performance and therefore are safely tenured and nurtured by the politicians they satisfy. Sounds like scientific socialism doesn’t it?
-
The liberal media plays a major role in this scenario by ensuring that these politicians and their symbiotic EcoScientists are shielded from public scrutiny and accountability as we have witnessed by the lack of public visibility into ClimateGate, GlacierGate and OzoneGate.
-
Prior Items:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/climategate-heats-up-into-glaciergate.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2007/10/more-rubbish-science.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/03/yet-another-nasa-self-serving-study.html
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Monday, January 25, 2010
Roanoke Times Convulses at Power Sharing
Roanoke Times, 1-25-10, Pg 1 & 14: Court makes bad decision on corporate cash; corporate influence without bound; The Supreme Court enables government of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations.
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Me thinks “The Ladies of the Roanoke Times Editorial Board” Doth Protest too Much!
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Ah yes, that nasty Republican Roberts Supreme Court looked at the fact that the major media are super-corporations that exercise political influence without bounds or reason or fairness and concluded that if they have that much political power, why not other corporations too? Something about a goose and a gander.
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Why not indeed? In the last election the major left-wing liberal media provided hundreds of millions of dollars in super-positive coverage and support to Obama while denigrating and marginalizing McCain and Palin at every opportunity.
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Hopefully some corporations will run advertisements informing the public that there are other candidates, ideas and views than those espoused by the major left-wing media corporations. Apparently this is something the Editors of the Roanoke Times find very scary. Why aren’t they OK with open debate on a level playing field?
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Some examples of the Roanoke Times free political support for their friends:
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/yet-more-roanoke-times-petty-bias-and.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/08/yet-another-big-free-roanoke-times.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/07/political-ads-replace-news.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2006/06/campaign-contribution-limits.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2006/01/100000-political-contribution.html
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Me thinks “The Ladies of the Roanoke Times Editorial Board” Doth Protest too Much!
-
Ah yes, that nasty Republican Roberts Supreme Court looked at the fact that the major media are super-corporations that exercise political influence without bounds or reason or fairness and concluded that if they have that much political power, why not other corporations too? Something about a goose and a gander.
-
Why not indeed? In the last election the major left-wing liberal media provided hundreds of millions of dollars in super-positive coverage and support to Obama while denigrating and marginalizing McCain and Palin at every opportunity.
-
Hopefully some corporations will run advertisements informing the public that there are other candidates, ideas and views than those espoused by the major left-wing media corporations. Apparently this is something the Editors of the Roanoke Times find very scary. Why aren’t they OK with open debate on a level playing field?
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Some examples of the Roanoke Times free political support for their friends:
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/yet-more-roanoke-times-petty-bias-and.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/08/yet-another-big-free-roanoke-times.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/07/political-ads-replace-news.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2006/06/campaign-contribution-limits.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2006/01/100000-political-contribution.html
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Sunday, January 24, 2010
Monkey Mountain - Today's Orienteering
I managed to avoid any booms induced by falling today! That's probably because I didn't fall until the last step on the course. I slipped on some mud at the finish line and took a hard fall, landing with my knee on concrete.Monkey Mountain is a classic Kansas City orienteering area. I have memories of running on the original black and white map, hunting for markers that weren't in the right
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Mindless running in Georgia
One of my "rules" is to take a few seconds to stand still and read the map after I fall down during a race. I violated that rule in Georgia. Check out my crazy 10th control (and the 11th is dismal, too). Just before I get to the control circle, you can see a red dot on my track. That's where I fell down.I put my foot into a hole, straightened my left knee, and fell forward. When I got up,
Obama: The Audacity of Arrogance
Roanoke Times, 1-23-10, Pg 9: Obama’s anniversary catchword: “Fight” used more than a dozen times at a rally in Elyria, Ohio.
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This is the hope and change we can believe in? Sounds like more of the Chicago and Rev Wright stuff coming out of our inept leader who needs to take a “time out” and stop and listen and smell the coffee.
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In his sit-down with George Stephanopoulos this week he lamented that he hadn’t been visible enough to the American people. Not visible enough? He’s held over 44 major TV appearances and hundreds of photo-ops and chats with his friendly media cronies in less than a year.
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It’s not the packaging or the advertising – it’s the content of the Obama-Pelosi-Reed actions that have convinced voters in less than a year that we need a “new change” not their change!
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The three elections in Va, NJ and Mass. are sending a message that inclusion and compromise and negotiation are being demanded by the American electorate, not more fighting and arrogance and isolation.
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Prime examples of voter frustration over ObamaCare are the Louisiana Purchase (Dem Sen Landau) and the Cream Corn Delight (Dem Sen Nelson) and the gross compromises with the AFL-CIO and UAW. It’s clear that this bill is not being processed on its merits but on intimidation, coercion and bribery. Sounds like typical Chicago operations and not the change we were promised.
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An excellent LTE: We need another kind of change by Chuck White, of Roanoke Va
http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/commentary/wb/233467
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Some Prior Items:
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/obamas-trifecta-va-nj-ma.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/obamacare-incubating-in-black-box.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/01/obama-attacks-rush-limbaugh.html
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This is the hope and change we can believe in? Sounds like more of the Chicago and Rev Wright stuff coming out of our inept leader who needs to take a “time out” and stop and listen and smell the coffee.
-
In his sit-down with George Stephanopoulos this week he lamented that he hadn’t been visible enough to the American people. Not visible enough? He’s held over 44 major TV appearances and hundreds of photo-ops and chats with his friendly media cronies in less than a year.
-
It’s not the packaging or the advertising – it’s the content of the Obama-Pelosi-Reed actions that have convinced voters in less than a year that we need a “new change” not their change!
-
The three elections in Va, NJ and Mass. are sending a message that inclusion and compromise and negotiation are being demanded by the American electorate, not more fighting and arrogance and isolation.
-
Prime examples of voter frustration over ObamaCare are the Louisiana Purchase (Dem Sen Landau) and the Cream Corn Delight (Dem Sen Nelson) and the gross compromises with the AFL-CIO and UAW. It’s clear that this bill is not being processed on its merits but on intimidation, coercion and bribery. Sounds like typical Chicago operations and not the change we were promised.
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An excellent LTE: We need another kind of change by Chuck White, of Roanoke Va
http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/commentary/wb/233467
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Some Prior Items:
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/obamas-trifecta-va-nj-ma.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/obamacare-incubating-in-black-box.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/01/obama-attacks-rush-limbaugh.html
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Friday, January 22, 2010
Almost time to party Dunder Mifflin style!
Matt's Office party is this Friday and preparations are in full swing! I've been cleaning, shopping for supplies , and double checking my list! This should be a pretty casual gathering so I only sent out paper invitations to a few people and the rest received e-mail invites. The main part of the invitation is a memo sheet from a notepad that I got in the dollar section at Target. I just used scotch tape to attach the memo sheet to card stock. They turned out just the way I wanted, as if Michael Scott had made them himself!
Here's the mood board I whipped together to keep me on track as far as colors and what not. I did manage to get my hands on a water cooler from a thrift store, which is exciting! you just can't have an Office party without a water cooler!
Party Pictures soon to come!
Almost time to party Dunder Mifflin style!
Matt's Office party is this Friday and preparations are in full swing! I've been cleaning, shopping for supplies , and double checking my list! This should be a pretty casual gathering so I only sent out paper invitations to a few people and the rest received e-mail invites. The main part of the invitation is a memo sheet from a notepad that I got in the dollar section at Target. I just used scotch tape to attach the memo sheet to card stock. They turned out just the way I wanted, as if Michael Scott had made them himself!
Here's the mood board I whipped together to keep me on track as far as colors and what not. I did manage to get my hands on a water cooler from a thrift store, which is exciting! you just can't have an Office party without a water cooler!
Party Pictures soon to come!
ClimateGate Heats Up Into GlacierGate
Not found in the Roanoke Times (they’re too busy watching reruns of Inconvenient Truth when they should be watching Not Evil – Just Wrong)
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U.N. Panel's Glacier-Disaster Claims Melting Away
The world's most famous climate change expert is at the center of a massive controversy as the leading environmental science institute he heads scrambled to explain its assertion that the Himalayan glaciers (There are some 9,500 Himalayan glaciers) will melt completely in 25 years.
Rajendra Pachauri, head of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and director general of the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Dehli, India, said this week that the U.N. body was studying how its 2007 report to the United Nations derived information that led to its famous conclusion: that the glaciers will melt by 2035.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/01/20/panels-glacier-disaster-claims-melting-away/
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The facts are that many glaciers have been receding for 250 years. Many have been receding rapidly as part of natural global warming that started at the end of the little ice age in 1750, with negligible contributions from man-kind or CO2.
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The following four land-based northern hemisphere glaciers are prime examples of our 250 years of natural global warming that the alarmists refuse to address because these facts clearly falsify the Gore-IPCC-Hypothesis that we are the cause of global warming.
Click to enlarge the graphics
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U.N. Panel's Glacier-Disaster Claims Melting Away
The world's most famous climate change expert is at the center of a massive controversy as the leading environmental science institute he heads scrambled to explain its assertion that the Himalayan glaciers (There are some 9,500 Himalayan glaciers) will melt completely in 25 years.
Rajendra Pachauri, head of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and director general of the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Dehli, India, said this week that the U.N. body was studying how its 2007 report to the United Nations derived information that led to its famous conclusion: that the glaciers will melt by 2035.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/01/20/panels-glacier-disaster-claims-melting-away/
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The facts are that many glaciers have been receding for 250 years. Many have been receding rapidly as part of natural global warming that started at the end of the little ice age in 1750, with negligible contributions from man-kind or CO2.
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The following four land-based northern hemisphere glaciers are prime examples of our 250 years of natural global warming that the alarmists refuse to address because these facts clearly falsify the Gore-IPCC-Hypothesis that we are the cause of global warming.
Click to enlarge the graphics
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- U.N. Climate Change Expert Cites More Errors in Report
The Times 1-23-2010
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583711,00.html
The Times 1-23-2010
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583711,00.html
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Updated January 29, 2010 London Times
Climate Chief Knew of False Glacier Claims Before Copenhagen
Rajendra Pachauri was told that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment that the glaciers would disappear by 2035 was wrong, but he waited two months to correct it.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/01/29/climate-chief-knew-false-glacier-claims-copenhagen/?test=latestnews
Updated January 29, 2010 London Times
Climate Chief Knew of False Glacier Claims Before Copenhagen
Rajendra Pachauri was told that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment that the glaciers would disappear by 2035 was wrong, but he waited two months to correct it.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/01/29/climate-chief-knew-false-glacier-claims-copenhagen/?test=latestnews
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Obama Team Still Not Terrorist Ready
Roanoke Times, 1-21-10, HIDDEN in tiny print back on page 9 under an ambiguous title:
Official misspeaks about readiness of new unit.
The handling of this item is a new Roanoke Times personal best in gross Slant and unprofessional conduct ostensibly for political cover for their partisan friends.
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One year after taking office Obama and his team admitted to Congress that “we never thought about how to handle a terrorist caught on US soil”; and we don’t know who made the decision to process the Christmas plane bomber as a US common criminal but no one talked to us about it and our terrorist processing unit is not yet established or ready.
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This admission of massive incompetence and malfeasance was made to Congress by: Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano, her two top assistants and Obama’s National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair.
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Pointed Commentary by Byron York (who clearly doesn't work at the RT):
It seems like a pretty simple question. Who made the decision to charge Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the accused terrorist arrested for trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines jet on Christmas Day, as an everyday criminal, as opposed to an enemy combatant?
After all, Abdulmutallab was trained by al Qaeda, equipped with an al Qaeda-made bomb, and dispatched by al Qaeda to bring down the airliner and its 278 passengers. Even though the Obama administration has mostly abandoned the term "war on terror," the president himself has said recently that the United States is at war with al Qaeda. So who decided to treat Abdulmutallab as a civilian, read him the Miranda warning, and provide him with a government-paid lawyer -- giving him the right to remain silent and denying the United States potentially valuable intelligence that might have been gained by a military-style interrogation?
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Obama has not yet announced who made this incredibly stupid decision although “unnamed sources” indicate it was AG Eric Holder (why are we not surprised?).
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Scott Brown, the new Republican(41) Senator from Massachusetts articulated the view of most Americans about this situation during his acceptance speech when he said our tax dollars should go to defeat terrorists, not to defend them: : Click to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhmLXTqiGKk
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Prior Items:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/12/obama-can-you-say-terrorist.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/12/obamas-patriot-act-chickens-coming-home.html
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Official misspeaks about readiness of new unit.
The handling of this item is a new Roanoke Times personal best in gross Slant and unprofessional conduct ostensibly for political cover for their partisan friends.
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One year after taking office Obama and his team admitted to Congress that “we never thought about how to handle a terrorist caught on US soil”; and we don’t know who made the decision to process the Christmas plane bomber as a US common criminal but no one talked to us about it and our terrorist processing unit is not yet established or ready.
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This admission of massive incompetence and malfeasance was made to Congress by: Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano, her two top assistants and Obama’s National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair.
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Pointed Commentary by Byron York (who clearly doesn't work at the RT):
It seems like a pretty simple question. Who made the decision to charge Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the accused terrorist arrested for trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines jet on Christmas Day, as an everyday criminal, as opposed to an enemy combatant?
After all, Abdulmutallab was trained by al Qaeda, equipped with an al Qaeda-made bomb, and dispatched by al Qaeda to bring down the airliner and its 278 passengers. Even though the Obama administration has mostly abandoned the term "war on terror," the president himself has said recently that the United States is at war with al Qaeda. So who decided to treat Abdulmutallab as a civilian, read him the Miranda warning, and provide him with a government-paid lawyer -- giving him the right to remain silent and denying the United States potentially valuable intelligence that might have been gained by a military-style interrogation?
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Obama has not yet announced who made this incredibly stupid decision although “unnamed sources” indicate it was AG Eric Holder (why are we not surprised?).
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Scott Brown, the new Republican(41) Senator from Massachusetts articulated the view of most Americans about this situation during his acceptance speech when he said our tax dollars should go to defeat terrorists, not to defend them: : Click to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhmLXTqiGKk
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Prior Items:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/12/obama-can-you-say-terrorist.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/12/obamas-patriot-act-chickens-coming-home.html
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3rd week- January - April 2010 trimester
Hello, there! Well, this has been our third week of classes... almost over now... Let's review what we did this week in order to connect to our class and classmates on line and collaborate, share, learn and have fun. Use this check list to know if you are following all the activities done so far..
These are special tasks that you will do to participate in different projects.
Keep on shining Love and Peace!
- Got a Gmail account.
- Invited my teacher to chat and added her and my classmates to my chat list.
- Gotten a blog at Blogger.
- Followed my class blog. (To do that just click on the bottom follow in this blog.)
- Visited different blogs to look at models and examples. (Bloggers Sep-Dec09)
- Posted my first post. This is Elias blog and his first post... check it out and make sure to leave a comment. (Welcome to my blog)
- Remembered to add a tittle, a little intro paragraph, my task, a closing paragraph where I reflect on my task and invite readers to leave me a comment, also added key words to my post.
- Used the check-speller to check my writing. I showed my work to my tutor and double check before posting.
- Got my book... and class MyELT code
- Registered to MyELT and checked the exercises to practice during this trimester.
- Taken the surveys: About your English Class
Jan-Apr2010 EFL Survey
Click Here to take survey
About Integrating Technology in the English Class
Jan-Apr2010 EFL Digital Literacy
Click Here to take survey
These are special tasks that you will do to participate in different projects.
- Registered to EFLUNIVERSITY and to THE KATAMY to participate in the project with Tampa University Spanish students in SecondLife.
- Registered to Twitter and Facebook and I am following URBE and the teacher, as well as my classmates.
- Registered to SecondLife, got an avatar and added Pionia Destiny as friend. (Try if can great... if you can't ... don't worry).
Keep on shining Love and Peace!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
America Rising: Va, NJ, Mass, Nov 2010
The Colonialists and now the American People Do Not Suffer Arrogant Leaders Gladly
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click for youtube video:
America Rising
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZs8k4pJcyk
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Prior Items:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/obamas-trifecta-va-nj-ma.html
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click for youtube video:
America Rising
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZs8k4pJcyk
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Prior Items:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/01/obamas-trifecta-va-nj-ma.html
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Running to the dogs: great training partners?
Dalmatians were featured as being excellent running partners for humans in today's Times (A Best Friend, Yes. Best Runner, Maybe Not), hounds, well, not so much.
Sparky was bred to run in a straight line; on the other paw, I am true to my breed at being excellent at the dodge, the feint, and the parry, which I ably demonstrated two weeks ago when my collar broke apart and I hightailed it around the swampy edges of the pond. Finally, my pal Jazz' dad tackled me, because as you know, I will not come when called. I mean, really! Have some pride! Plus, she and I were having a terrific time.
However, I am trying to make Mom happy and live up to Sparky's stellar performance. Even after a five-mile run, he used to pull Mom up the hills around our house. He loved to run, and she loved running with him (although he did develop an inconvenient habit of stopping at every other telephone pole to retrieve/send p-mail).
I have to admit, I'm getting pretty good at this running business. In fact, I am becoming quite the student in toto. I received an A+ from my walking pal Kelly (really! an A-plus!) recently and other glowing reports.
BTW, my reader from Buenos Aires turned out to be none other than my cousin Pazzo's mom, although what she was doing reading my blog on her exciting vacation, I have no idea.
Sparky was bred to run in a straight line; on the other paw, I am true to my breed at being excellent at the dodge, the feint, and the parry, which I ably demonstrated two weeks ago when my collar broke apart and I hightailed it around the swampy edges of the pond. Finally, my pal Jazz' dad tackled me, because as you know, I will not come when called. I mean, really! Have some pride! Plus, she and I were having a terrific time.
However, I am trying to make Mom happy and live up to Sparky's stellar performance. Even after a five-mile run, he used to pull Mom up the hills around our house. He loved to run, and she loved running with him (although he did develop an inconvenient habit of stopping at every other telephone pole to retrieve/send p-mail).
I have to admit, I'm getting pretty good at this running business. In fact, I am becoming quite the student in toto. I received an A+ from my walking pal Kelly (really! an A-plus!) recently and other glowing reports.
BTW, my reader from Buenos Aires turned out to be none other than my cousin Pazzo's mom, although what she was doing reading my blog on her exciting vacation, I have no idea.
2 Lovely baby Showers
I came across these two absolutely lovely baby showers while reading A Beautiful Mess. They were hosted by Elsie the author of the blog. I couldn't help but share these adorable celebrations with you! Take a look, I hope oyu love the details as much as I did!
I love these handmade invitations so much!
Tons of craft supplies were laid out along with plain white onesies, and guests were invited to create a wardrobe for baby Ruby.
Cute cupcakes with fun handmade toppers!
This party area is beyond lovely!
2 Lovely baby Showers
I came across these two absolutely lovely baby showers while reading A Beautiful Mess. They were hosted by Elsie the author of the blog. I couldn't help but share these adorable celebrations with you! Take a look, I hope oyu love the details as much as I did!
I love these handmade invitations so much!
Tons of craft supplies were laid out along with plain white onesies, and guests were invited to create a wardrobe for baby Ruby.
Cute cupcakes with fun handmade toppers!
This party area is beyond lovely!
Dogville Comedy Shorts
"Smithers, release the hounds!"
- Montgomery Burns
Dogville Collection
directed by Jules White and Zion Myers
USA, 1929-1931, 142 minutes
(Warner Brothers Archive Collection)
www.wbshop.com/Warner Archive
Mondo Cane
I'm on an all-animal movie kick, so naturally - once Warner Brothers decided to finally release the hounds - I had to order this official 2-disc DVD containing all nine of MGM's classic "Dogville" comedies. Depending on your sensibilities, you will either find these pre-Code, decidely un-P.C. shorts appalling or funny. I find them to be both appalling and humorous, and got them only because I collect audio-visual oddities of this stripe so that I can tell my theoretical-only grandchildren: This too was a chapter in the annals of Hollywood Babylon.
I first saw these on Turner Classic Movies' great "One-Reel Wonders" series, and apparently Warner Brothers (which owns the MGM film library) has listened to its viewers and rewarded them with this straight-from-the-masters release.
(I've even more excited that Warner Archives has all 63 Joe "Behind the Eightball" McDoakes one-reelers on its 6-disc Joe McDoakes Collection. I loved George O'Hanlon as "Everyman" Joe McDoakes, and his wife was played by the gorgeous Phyllis Coates (soon to become Lois Lane on the first season of the 1950s Superman TV series.) It's a tad pricey, so it'll have to remain on my Wish List until I hit the lottery.)
The nine all-canine, all-Barkie shorts are as follows:
Dogville Filmography
1. Hot Dog (1929, 15minutes)
This Dogville short starts in a nightclub. A married dog is out on the town with her lover boyfriend, which has everybody gossiping. The husband shows up, and after a fight between the husband and the boyfriend, the wife kills the husband. She is put on trial for murder. At the end of the trial is a surprising twist. (summary by David Glagovsky)
2. College Hounds (1929, 16 minutes)
This Dogville comedy is a spoof of college football movies. A man in debt to a loan shark uses his daughter to stop football hero Red Mange from playing in the big game between Airedale College and Spitz University. Guess who makes a last second score to win the game for Airedale?
Since it's football playoff time, enjoy this excerpt from the Dogville short "College Hounds":
3. So Quiet on the Canine Front (1930, 16 minutes)
This is an obvious parody of All Quiet on the Western Front, which was released in 1930 and went on to win the third Academy Award for Best Picture (after Wings and Broadway Melody, which later became anoher Dogville spoof.)
4. The Big Dog House (1930, 17 minutes)
In this dogville spoof, a department store employee is framed for murder by his boss, because he wants the employee's girlfriend for himself. The girlfriend does everything she can to see that the boss gets what he deserves. (summary by David Glagovsky)
5. The Dogway Melody (1930)
In this Dogville spoof of The Broadway Melody (1929), Mr. Cur, a Broadway producer, puts on a show and makes a play for the leading lady.
6. Who Killed Rover? (1930, 15 minutes)
This Dogville short, also known as The Dogville Murder Case, is a spoof of the popular Philo Vance murder mysteries of the period (which starred human actors William Powell at Paramount & Basil Rathbone at MGM) - one of Philo's cases was even called The Kennel Murders. In this entry a wealthy resident leaves his fortune to his nephew, who is then kidnapped by jealous relatives. Detective Phido Vance tries to find the nephew before any harm can come to him.
7. Love Tales of Morocco (1931, 17 minutes)
This Dogville short takes place at an outpost in the Dogville Foreign Legion. As the story opens, the soldiers watch a newsreel, which includes the opera singer Galli Cur (a spoof of Amelita Galli-Curci) sing an aria. After the show, they go to the local bar and tell each other the stories behind the reason they joined the legion. All the stories are about how women did them wrong in one way or another. They all agree that they are fed up with women, until a certain visitor shows up.
8. The Two Barks Brothers (1931, 17 minutes)
I guess the title is a play on The Marx Brothers. Twin brothers are separated at birth when one is stolen by gypsies. One becomes a district attorney. The other becomes a drifter. Thirty years later, circumstances bring them together again, unbeknownst to them. As donzilla comments on IMDB: " This is a story of multi-breed dogs, in which one brother, a politician, is bent upon leading the community, and the other is "bent". There is a lot about gin-drinking because the year filmed was a prohibition year. And efforts to keep his brother from winning the political office are paramount here. The filming is better than "Lonesome Stranger", filmed with various breeds of monkeys, because the lip movements and gestures are more realistic. They don't contain paint-in teeth and mouth movement. A good animated film for it's time. Nowadays, as in "Babe" the animals move their mouths minimally."
9. Trader Hound (1931, 15 minutes)
The narrator for the film is none other than Pete Smith, the award-winning "Smith named Pete" behind the "Pete Smith Specialty" film unit at MGM. Besides the canine actors in this spoof of Trader Horn, a real monkey plays a monkey and an alligator plays an alligator - there are even real dogs playing wild dogs for the climactic chase at the end of the film.
I'm too lazy to spout off more about the Dogville shorts, so I'll leave it to others. Here's the poop on the pooches:
***
Porfle's review from the "HK Cult Film News" blog:
***
From geophos on Rotten Tomato's forum:
Related Links:
TCM's Shorts Circuit
- Montgomery Burns
Dogville Collection
directed by Jules White and Zion Myers
USA, 1929-1931, 142 minutes
(Warner Brothers Archive Collection)
www.wbshop.com/Warner Archive
Mondo Cane
I'm on an all-animal movie kick, so naturally - once Warner Brothers decided to finally release the hounds - I had to order this official 2-disc DVD containing all nine of MGM's classic "Dogville" comedies. Depending on your sensibilities, you will either find these pre-Code, decidely un-P.C. shorts appalling or funny. I find them to be both appalling and humorous, and got them only because I collect audio-visual oddities of this stripe so that I can tell my theoretical-only grandchildren: This too was a chapter in the annals of Hollywood Babylon.
I first saw these on Turner Classic Movies' great "One-Reel Wonders" series, and apparently Warner Brothers (which owns the MGM film library) has listened to its viewers and rewarded them with this straight-from-the-masters release.
(I've even more excited that Warner Archives has all 63 Joe "Behind the Eightball" McDoakes one-reelers on its 6-disc Joe McDoakes Collection. I loved George O'Hanlon as "Everyman" Joe McDoakes, and his wife was played by the gorgeous Phyllis Coates (soon to become Lois Lane on the first season of the 1950s Superman TV series.) It's a tad pricey, so it'll have to remain on my Wish List until I hit the lottery.)
The nine all-canine, all-Barkie shorts are as follows:
Dogville Filmography
1. Hot Dog (1929, 15minutes)
This Dogville short starts in a nightclub. A married dog is out on the town with her lover boyfriend, which has everybody gossiping. The husband shows up, and after a fight between the husband and the boyfriend, the wife kills the husband. She is put on trial for murder. At the end of the trial is a surprising twist. (summary by David Glagovsky)
2. College Hounds (1929, 16 minutes)
This Dogville comedy is a spoof of college football movies. A man in debt to a loan shark uses his daughter to stop football hero Red Mange from playing in the big game between Airedale College and Spitz University. Guess who makes a last second score to win the game for Airedale?
Since it's football playoff time, enjoy this excerpt from the Dogville short "College Hounds":
3. So Quiet on the Canine Front (1930, 16 minutes)
This is an obvious parody of All Quiet on the Western Front, which was released in 1930 and went on to win the third Academy Award for Best Picture (after Wings and Broadway Melody, which later became anoher Dogville spoof.)
4. The Big Dog House (1930, 17 minutes)
In this dogville spoof, a department store employee is framed for murder by his boss, because he wants the employee's girlfriend for himself. The girlfriend does everything she can to see that the boss gets what he deserves. (summary by David Glagovsky)
5. The Dogway Melody (1930)
In this Dogville spoof of The Broadway Melody (1929), Mr. Cur, a Broadway producer, puts on a show and makes a play for the leading lady.
6. Who Killed Rover? (1930, 15 minutes)
This Dogville short, also known as The Dogville Murder Case, is a spoof of the popular Philo Vance murder mysteries of the period (which starred human actors William Powell at Paramount & Basil Rathbone at MGM) - one of Philo's cases was even called The Kennel Murders. In this entry a wealthy resident leaves his fortune to his nephew, who is then kidnapped by jealous relatives. Detective Phido Vance tries to find the nephew before any harm can come to him.
7. Love Tales of Morocco (1931, 17 minutes)
This Dogville short takes place at an outpost in the Dogville Foreign Legion. As the story opens, the soldiers watch a newsreel, which includes the opera singer Galli Cur (a spoof of Amelita Galli-Curci) sing an aria. After the show, they go to the local bar and tell each other the stories behind the reason they joined the legion. All the stories are about how women did them wrong in one way or another. They all agree that they are fed up with women, until a certain visitor shows up.
8. The Two Barks Brothers (1931, 17 minutes)
I guess the title is a play on The Marx Brothers. Twin brothers are separated at birth when one is stolen by gypsies. One becomes a district attorney. The other becomes a drifter. Thirty years later, circumstances bring them together again, unbeknownst to them. As donzilla comments on IMDB: " This is a story of multi-breed dogs, in which one brother, a politician, is bent upon leading the community, and the other is "bent". There is a lot about gin-drinking because the year filmed was a prohibition year. And efforts to keep his brother from winning the political office are paramount here. The filming is better than "Lonesome Stranger", filmed with various breeds of monkeys, because the lip movements and gestures are more realistic. They don't contain paint-in teeth and mouth movement. A good animated film for it's time. Nowadays, as in "Babe" the animals move their mouths minimally."
9. Trader Hound (1931, 15 minutes)
The narrator for the film is none other than Pete Smith, the award-winning "Smith named Pete" behind the "Pete Smith Specialty" film unit at MGM. Besides the canine actors in this spoof of Trader Horn, a real monkey plays a monkey and an alligator plays an alligator - there are even real dogs playing wild dogs for the climactic chase at the end of the film.
I'm too lazy to spout off more about the Dogville shorts, so I'll leave it to others. Here's the poop on the pooches:
***
Porfle's review from the "HK Cult Film News" blog:
Back in the old days, studios sometimes tended to get a little experimental with their short subjects. And sometimes they got just plain nutty. Nowhere is this more evident than in MGM's bizarre and fascinating "Dogville" shorts, all nine of which are now available in the DOGVILLE COLLECTION, a 2-disc set from Warner Brothers' Archive Collection.
Directed by Jules White ("The Three Stooges") and Zion Myers, these shorts are corny take-offs on various movie genres and sometimes certain films in particular, using dogs in place of human actors. This means you'll see different breeds of dogs wearing clothes, walking around, hanging out in bars, etc. and speaking with dubbed voices. The miniature sets and props are great--sometimes I'd forget they weren't full-sized. Some shots of dogs driving cars, flying (and parachuting out of) airplanes, riding in buses and fire engines, and just about anything else you can think of, are ingenious.
Are these shorts funny, you ask? Well, the sight of a bunch of dogs strolling around on their hind legs wearing clothes and "acting" out scenes from old movies just can't help being occasionally funny, especially when the costumes and setpieces are more elaborate. Every once in a while a dog's expressions will synch perfectly with the dubbed dialogue and be laugh-out-loud hilarious. And even when it doesn't work, you just sit there mesmerized, thinking, "What the hell am I watching?"
Of course, the thing that will make some viewers uncomfortable and others refuse to watch altogether is the possibility of animal cruelty. To what degree any actual abuse might be involved here in these pre-SPCA shorts is hard to ascertain--mainly the dogs just look like they'd rather be somewhere else instead of wearing clothes and pretending to be movie actors, often sporting a distinct "WTF?" expression.
The most bothersome aspect is the use of harnesses and invisible wires to make the dogs walk around on their hind legs. The sight of entire chorus lines of dogs being manipulated in these contraptions is especially worrisome. However, I didn't see anything in any of the shorts that I would consider out-and-out abuse. I assume (naively, perhaps) that these dogs were valuable to MGM and well cared for during the shoots, and that they at least didn't have it as rough as they would if they were being forced to pull sleds in the Yukon.
Running from 1929 to 1931, the series is wonderfully antique-looking with beautiful opening titles. Dubbing and sound effects are well-done considering that talking pictures were still in their infancy, and the editing is snappy and cartoon-like. The first three Dogville shorts are billed as "All Barkies", after which each is officially designated "A Dogville Comedy." MGM's celebrated mascot Leo the Lion sounds like he has a frog in his throat in his first few appearances, loses his voice altogether for a few shorts, and then finally comes back in fine voice for the last ones.
1929's "Hot Dog" takes place in a speakeasy and concerns a roguish playboy named Joe Barker out on the town with Clara Bone, another dog's wife. When she worries that her husband might show up and catch them together, he brags, "I've been chased by some of the best husbands in town!" There's an all-dog band banging away on their instruments while the entertainment onstage consists of some lovely canine hula dancers in grass skirts. "You never looked at me like that," complains one lady dog to her husband, to which he replies, "You never LOOKED like that!" Naturally, the husband does show up, leading to a violent confrontation. "There's my wife with some yellow cur! I'll kill that dirty dog!" is another example of the pun-filled dialogue. The story ends with a dramatic courtroom scene.
In "College Hounds", a spoof of the old campus football comedies, we find a dorm room full of students going about their daily business--shaving, brushing their hair, relaxing in the bath, lifting weights, ironing their clothes--as they discuss the upcoming big game. Later, a scoundrel with big money bet on the other team hires a femme fatale to lure hometown hero Red Mange into a trap so he'll miss the game. There's a really bizarre love scene, and an even more bizarre football game with two whole teams full of dogs in uniforms being scooted around like puppets on a tiny football field.
"Who Killed Rover?" is a Phido Vance murder mystery complete with knives, guns, and all sorts of scary goings on. An all-dog wedding ceremony leads to a romantic honeymoon night with a rather risque' scene--the groom enters the bedroom, whisks the pillow off one of the twin beds, and nestles it next to the other one. Ooh, suggestive! This one has a surprisingly downbeat ending.
"The Dogway Melody", a spoof of backstage musicals, is one of the best. A slick-talking smoothie hustles to get his girlfriend into the big show, which consists of a series of mind-boggling production numbers including an elaborate version of "Singin' in the Rain."
Then comes the impressive war movie spoof "So Quiet on the Canine Front", which features a full-scale WWI battle sequence with machine guns, cannons, and flea grenades. Private Barker is enlisted to go behind enemy lines disguised as a nurse and ends up at the wrong end of a firing squad before his pal rescues him in the nick of time.
"The Big Dog House" tells of a mild-mannered bookkeeper for the Dogville Department Store who is framed by his boss Mr. Barker (related to Private Barker, perhaps?) for embezzlement and murder, and sent to Dogville Penitentiary. A funny spoof of hardboiled prison pictures, this one has another suspenseful ending with the innocent dog on his way to the electric chair as his girlfriend Trixie, after hearing Mr. Barker's deathbed confession, races with the governor to stop the execution.
Heartbroken soldiers in the Foreign Legion recount their sad tales of romantic betrayal in "Love Tails of Morocco", which offers several entertaining flashbacks in various settings. In "The Two Barks Brothers", gypsies steal a baby who later becomes a shiftless tramp named Oscar, while his twin brother grows up to be an anti-liquor crusading district attorney. Underworld beer king "Scartail" Growler hires Oscar to slip some gin into the D.A.'s water pitcher, leading to a hilarious scene in which the D.A. tries to deliver a temperance speech to some conservative citizens while getting sloppy drunk.
The final short, "Trader Hound", lampoons the enormously popular jungle adventure "Trader Horn" which would in turn inspire MGM's "Tarzan" series. Using the same music and basic plot, this spoof begins with a safari into darkest Africa in search of the great white goddess, Nina T-Bone. This film seemed promising but turned out to be one of the worst of the series--much time is devoted to the antics of human actors in animal costumes, with an extended battle between a lion and a gorilla proving particularly boring. The whole thing is narrated by Pete Smith in his usual unfunny (to me, anyway) style. However, the dramatic appearance of Nina T-Bone and the climactic chase as the hunters flee a tribe of dog-eating cannibals liven things up at the end.
As usual with the Warner Archive series, this burn-on-demand DVD set is taken from the best available video masters in the Warner vault, but with no remastering or restoration. Thus, the picture quality is less than perfect, yet considering the age of these shorts they look and sound quite good. Average running time is 15 minutes each.
The entertainment value of these DOGVILLE COLLECTION shorts is, of course, a matter of taste, not to mention one's tolerance for seeing dogs being manipulated like puppets to walk around on two legs and perform other human-like activities. While several moments elicited big laughs, the overall effect of this series of novelty films is a sort of dazed incredulity at their utter strangeness. I would love to see a roomful of stoners watching these things and flipping out.
***
From geophos on Rotten Tomato's forum:
If you’ve ever watched a film on Turner Classic Movies you’ve no doubt caught the beginning or end of one of the Dogville Comedies. If you were lucky, you saw it in its entirety.
MGM was distributing Hal Roach's Our Gang/Little Rascals shorts and they proved to be so popular that the studio wanted a series of their own. So between 1929 and 1931 they hired B-movie director Zion Myers and an associate, Jules White, who came up with The Dogville "All Barkie" Comedies. Trained dogs of every breed were dressed as humans and acted out imaginative and delightful scenarios concocted by the two partners.
Myers and White did most of the main voice-over dialogue themselves, though extras were brought in for "crowd scenes". When they couldn’t get a dog to “speak”, a little peanut butter on the roof of its mouth got those chops working just fine. Props were attached to the animals' paws with double-sided tape and they were manipulated, like puppets, with fish wire. While the ASPCA and HSUS would no doubt set up the picket lines today (don’t even thing about what the folks at PETA might do!), at the time these pups were well cared for by MGM for being, literally, “top dogs” and a good draw at the box office.
As you can tell by some of the following titles, plots of currently popular movies were lampooned and a film’s “big scenes” were often duplicated to hilarious effect. The Dogway Melody, for instance, features vaudeville routines, a black pooch named Al. J. Olson in a suit and white gloves singing a soulful rendition of “Mammy”, and a Busby Berkeley-style extravaganza of “Singing in the Rain”. The Big Dog House’s centerpiece is a prison riot, and Love-Tails of Morocco has the hounds of the Dogville Foreign Legion recalling the reasons they joined up, with one reminiscence taking place in a long hotel hallway with chases and doors slamming in true French-farce style. Dachshunds, of course, are the “Germans” in So Quiet on the Western Front; an English bulldog is an RAF flyer piloting a bi-plane, and the battle scenes are so good you’d swear they were lifted from a legitimate Hollywood epic. But those sausage links used as barbwire are a dead giveaway. Since these were made pre-Code, some of the shorts were subversively risqué and definitely politically incorrect. In Trader Hound, the “African native” dogs have grotesque woolly Afros, face paint, bones under their noses and speak English Steppin Fetchit-style. This was the last and, to me, the least successful because they broke the illusion by using two humans in lion and gorilla suits wrestling in a scene that went on way too long.
Related Links:
TCM's Shorts Circuit
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